J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.

Here are the latest entries in the "albums that influenced me" series I started writing in May 2020.

Note: Just because an album appears on this list doesn't mean I give it a blanket endorsement. Many of the secular albums on this list are mainly there because they wound up being spoofed by ApologetiX.

1472. Somewhere in England (Extra Tracks Original Recording Remastered) - George Harrison
George Harrison's proposed ninth studio LP, Somewhere in England, was originally submitted to Warner Brothers in September 1980, but the record label rejected it for not being commercial enough. They even made him come up with new cover art. Harrison eventually returned with four new tracks, including "Blood From a Clone," which was inspired by the initial album's rejection, and the record was released on June 1, 1981. In the interim, Harrison's Beatles bandmate John Lennon had been murdered by an assailant on December 8, 1980, and Harrison eulogized him in another one of the new tracks, "All Those Years Ago," which featured Ringo Starr on drums and Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, and Denny Laine on backing vocals. Released as the first single from Somewhere in England, it hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Radio & Radio Records chart. The second single, "Teardrops," also reached #2 ... on the Billboard Bubbling Under chart, which is the equivalent of hitting #102. It did make it to #51 on the mainstream rock chart, while "All Those Years Ago" went to #6. Somewhere in England climbed to #11 on the Billboard 200 and #13 on the U.K. album chart. It was remastered and reissued with the original cover art in 2004, and I bought a copy of that in September 2005, because I needed "All Those Years Ago" for my playlist of #2 songs (although I used to own the 45 back in college). Harrison's next LP, Gone Troppo, came out in November '82 and became his first non-instrumental album to miss the top 20. It sputtered to #108, but George later proved he could do much better once he set his mind to it. 

1473. Magic: The Very Best of Olivia Newton-John - Olivia Newton-John
Released on November 9, 2001, Magic: The Very Best of Olivia Newton-John featured all five of her U.S. #1 hits, all 13 of her U.S. Top Five hits, all 15 of her U.S. Top 10 hits and 19 of her U.S. Top 20 hits. The only ones missing were "Something Better to Do" (#13 pop, #1 adult contemporary) and "Soul Kiss" (#20 pop, #20 AC), from 1985. But why quibble over a line-up like this: "I Honestly Love You" (#1 pop, #1 AC ), "Have You Never Been Mellow" (#1 pop, #1 AC), "You're The One That I Want" (with John Travolta) (#1 pop, #23 AC), "Magic (#1 pop, #1 AC), "Physical (#1 for 10 weeks, #29 AC), "Please Mr. Please (#3 pop, #1 AC), "Hopelessly Devoted To You (#3 pop, #7 AC), "A Little More Love (#3 pop, #4 AC), "Heart Attack (#3 pop, did not chart on AC), "If You Love Me (Let Me Know) (#5 pop, #2 AC), "Summer Nights (#5 pop, #21 AC), "Make A Move On Me (#5 pop, #6 AC), "Twist Of Fate (#5 pop, did not chart on AC), "Let Me Be There (#6 pop, #3 AC), "Xanadu (#8 pop, #2 AC), "Deeper Than The Night (#11 pop, #4 AC), "Come On Over (#13 pop, #1 AC), "Sam (#20 pop, #1 AC), "Suddenly (#20 pop, #4 AC). The only two tracks not to hit the Top 20 were "Don't Stop Believin' (#33 pop, #1 AC) and her final Top 40 hit, "The Grease Megamix" (#25 pop). The album itself peaked at #150 on the Billboard 200. I bought a copy in 2005. As you might imagine, it helped a lot with my playlists of #1, #3, and #5 songs. 

1474. The Cisco Kid and Other Hits - War
I wrote about War's 1976 Greatest Hits LP earlier on my list. This 1998 compilation from Flashback Records featured 10 tracks from 1971-94, and I'm not sure what the pattern was. It contained three of the group's 12 Top 40 pop singles, "The Cisco Kid" (#2 pop, #5 R&B) "Why Can't We Be Friends" (#6 pop, #9 R&B), and "All Day Music" (#35 pop, #18 R&B),  plus three more of their 18 Top 40 R&B hits: "L.A. Sunshine" (#45 pop, #2 R&B), "Outlaw" (#94 pop, #13 R&B), and "Youngblood (Livin' In The Streets)" (#21 R&B only). Of the other four cuts, only one charted and that one just barely — "Cinco De Mayo" (#90 R&B) — but the others had great titles. If I like a song's title, I'll usually like the song, too, so how could I resist "Wild Rodriguez," "Deliver the Word," and "Where Was You At"? Speaking of irresistible, I purchased a second-hand copy of The Cisco Kid and Other Hits in 2005 for a mere 50 cents. 

1475. Greatest Golden Hits - The Happenings
New Jersey pop vocal group The Happenings had a couple of huge hits in 1966-67 —  "See You in September" (#3 Billboard, #4 Cash Box, #1 Record World, #1 Canada) and "I Got Rhythm" (#3 Billboard, #1 Cash Box, #2 Record World, #1 Canada). Two more singles came close to making the Top 10 as well: "Go Away Little Girl" (#12) and "My Mammy" (#13). All four of those songs were remakes of established classics. "Go Away Little Girl" had been a #1 hit for Steve Lawrence in 1963 and "See You in September reached #23 for The Tempos in 1959. Meanwhile, "I Got Rhythm" and "My Mammy" date back to 1930 and 1918, respectively. Greatest Golden Hits featured all four of the above, plus 12 additional tracks, including "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" (#41), "Goodnight My Love" (#51), "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (#67), and "Music Music Music" (#96). Three out of four of those had already been hits for other artists, too — the exception being "Goodnight My Love." Two of the remaining cuts on this collection bubbled under the Hot 100: "Crazy Rhythm" (#114) and "Randy" (#118). The Happenings had a singing style that reminds me of their fellow Jersey boys The Four Seasons (plus a dash of The Beach Boys and The Vogues). In fact, they were originally known as The Four Graduates. Their only chart entries not present on Greatest Golden Hitswere their final two, which came out on a different record label: "Where Do I Go/Be-In/Hare Krishna" (#66) from the controversial musical Hair and "Answer Me, My Love" (#115). Four pop artists achieved major success covering songs from Hair that year (1969), including The Fifth Dimension with “Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In” (#1), The Cowsills with “Hair” (#2), Oliver with “Good Morning Starshine” (#3), and Three Dog Night with “Easy to Be Hard” (#4). Unfortunately, that didn't happen for The Happenings. Their interpretation of the hippy-dippy "Where Do I Go/Be-In/Hare Krishna" doesn't quite fit in with the rest of their chart entries. 

1476. The Best of Village People - Village People
Like The Carpenters and The Eagles, The Village People are a group that technically isn't supposed to have the definite article in front of their name, but it sounds so weird to say, "Yeah, I had albums by Carpenters, Eagles, and Village People." And if you think it sounds weird to say that now, it would have sounded reallyweird for me to say that back in their heyday. My fellow high-school students would have treated me like the village idiot. Eagles, yes. Carpenters and Village People, no way. Come to think of it, when I was in high school, I didn't own any Carpenters or Village People albums, although I liked some of their songs. However, I did eventually buy The Best of Village People in 2005, primarily for "In the Navy" (#3 pop, #14 dance, #2 U.K.), since I already had "YMCA" (#2 pop, #2 dance, #1 U.K.) on the Pure Disco LP. Each of those songs appear twice on this 1994 compilation, which contains both the regular and extended versions. It also features all of their other U.S. pop hits: "Macho Man" (#25 pop, #4 dance), "Go West" (#45 pop, #15 U.K.), "Ready for the 80's" (#52 pop, #26 dance), and "San Francisco (You've Got Me)" (#102 pop, #1 dance, #45 U.K.). In 2023, I bought the DVD of Village People's 1980 feature-length film Can't Stop the Music as a Christmas gift for ApologetiX drummer Jimmy "Vegas" Tanner's wife, Eve. Although she first met Jimmy at a Kiss concert, those two appreciate cheesy movies from the '70s and '80s. The title track from that flick was released as a single and made it onto The Best of Village People as well. It didn't chart on the Hot 100 but went to #26 on the U.S. dance chart and #11 on the U.K. pop chart. Incidentally, ApologetiX isn't supposed to be preceded by "The," either ... but I still frequently hear people say it that way. 

1477. The Best of Hugo Montenegro - Hugo Montenegro
Brooklyn-born conductor/composer/arranger Hugo Montenegro managed only one Top 40 hit, but it was iconic — "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" (#2 pop, #1 adult contemporary). Before and after that, he released semi-successful interpretations of the themes from both of the other movies in Sergio Leone's "Dollars" spaghetti-western trilogy — all starring Clint Eastwood — "For a Few Dollars More" (#102 pop) and "Hang 'Em High" (#82 pop, #6 AC). Released from 1964-66, those films are also collectively known as "The Man With No Name" trilogy, despite the fact that Eastwood has a nickname in each ("Joe," "Manco," and "Blondie"). The original versions featured in the movies were actually written and produced by Italian composer/conductor/musician Ennio Morricone. Although those first three singles by Montenegro were instrumental, his last two charting singles were not: "Good Vibrations" and "Happy Together." Both bubbled under the Hot 100 at #112, with "Happy Together" also making it to #29 on the AC chart. All five were on The Best of Hugo Montenegro, which came out in 1970. Full disclosure: I only owned a later compilation of Montenegro music called The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, but it didn't include any of his other hits, and if I'm going to talk about the man's work, I figured I might as well feature an album that had every one of 'em. Montenegro also was responsible for the theme music from the second season of I Dream of Jeannie, and he wrote the song "Seattle" for the TV series Here Come the Brides. I loved that tune as a kid. Perry Como turned it into a hit single in 1969 (#38 pop, #2 AC).

1478. Easy Does It! - Various Artists
Easy Does It! was one of the first albums I remember seeing in our family record collection as a kid. Columbia Special Products put it together exclusively for the Sherwin-Williams paint company to promote Super Kem-Tone, "the easy-does-it wall paint." Released in 1968, this star-studded LP was filled with popular tunes in the easy-listening genre. Nine of the 10 featured artists had Top 40 pop hits (the only exception was John Davidson, who did have seven Top 40 adult contemporary hits), and eight of the 10 featured songs were Top 40 pop hits. But here's the catch: None of the tunes on Easy Does It! were done by the artists who made them hits, and none of the artists on Easy Does It! performed any of their actual hits on that record. Instead, we wound up with "Up, Up and Away" by The Ray Conniff Singers, "Walk on By" by Johnny Mathis, "Matchmaker" by Eydie Gormé, "May Each Day" by Andy Williams, "I'm All Smiles" by Barbra Streisand, "The Impossible Dream" by Robert Goulet, "Sunny" by John Davidson, "Michelle" by The Brothers Four, "Kiss Me Goodbye" by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, and "What the World Needs Now" by New Christy Minstrels. Nevertheless, you have to love a compilation that groups Gormé with Goulet. The last paragraph of the liner notes on the back cover of the album said it all: "There they are, ten wonderful performances of ten great hits, done up in EASY DOES IT style. A musical treat, delightfully easy listening!" Easy Does It! Volume 2 followed in 1969 with a similar format, but we never owned that one. Apparently, my parents had moved on musically ... or finished their painting projects ... by then.